Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council

Absence and Truancy

Absence
Children who miss two weeks of school per year miss out on 5% of their education.

What should I do if I want to take my child on holiday in term time?
Parents/ Guardians are urged to avoid booking family holidays in term time.

DfES guidance (Is your child missing out?) states that taking a holiday during term time means that children miss important school time – both educationally and for other school activities. It will be difficult for them to catch up on work later on.

DfES guidance also state in (10/99) parents should not normally take pupils on holiday during term time. However, you may request up to ten days holiday in a school year (September – July). The law says that only the schools and its governing body have the discretion to grant up to ten days authorised absence in a school year.

Each application for leave needs is considered individual by the school taking into account a variety of factors including:-

Your child’s overall attendance records
Your child’s stage of education and academic progress
The time of year proposed for the trip
Any examination commitments e.g. SATs – Year 2, 6 & 9 / GSCEs
Exceptional circumstances
Transition – e.g. first year of schooling, phase transfer points

However after considering these factors, if your child’s school does not agree the absences and you take your child on holiday, the school may record this as unauthorised absence.

Extended Family Holidays.
The Directorate of Education & Lifelong Learning recommends that parents should be encouraged to use existing school holidays for undertaking trips abroad. If authorised absence is required, then ideally this should be used as a ‘top up’ by attaching the extended leave to a school holiday. You will need to show that your request is due to exceptional circumstances.

If the school and the governing body grant an extended holiday, you may be asked that your child complete an Extended Leave Pack, (Key stage 1 & 2), whilst you are on holiday. The school will provide this.

Deletion from the school role.
Parents need to be aware that your child’s name may be deleted from the schools role if he / she fails to return to school within 20 school days of the agreed return date.

This is under taken if the school is not satisfied after enquiries by Education Welfare Service that the pupil is unable to attend the school by reason of sickness or other unavoidable cause.

What the Law says about school attendance.
By law all children of compulsory school age (between age 5 and 16) must receive a suitable full-time education. Section 444 (1a) of the Education Act 1996 requires children and young people of compulsory school age to regularly attend the school at which he/she is on roll. It states if ‘the parent knows that his/her child is failing to attend regularly at school without reasonable justification to cause him to do so, he/she is guilty of an offence’.

Truancy

What is a Truancy Sweep?
A Truancy Sweep is a joint operation undertaken by the Police and the Education Welfare Service.

Children and young people who appear to be of school age can be stopped by a uniformed Police Office and a member of staff from the Education Welfare Service in public places at specified times. The child or young person may be alone, or with friends or accompanied by an adult.

Unaccompanied Chid/Young people.
Unaccompanied children and young people will be stopped to allow the Police Officer to make enquires to establish whether the person is out of school with or without permission and a decision will then be made as whether to remove them to agreed designated place of safety, the Education Social Worker or Assistant will also take the detail of the child / young person and contact the school or parent/carers.

The child/ young person would then be either escorted back to school or home.

Accompanied Chid/Young people.
No attempt will be made to separate a child from an accompanying adult, but enquires will be made as to the reason the child’s absence from school .The Education Social Worker or Assistant will then advise them as to whether the given cause of absence is acceptable authorised absence.

The majority of reasons provided by parents / carers when stopped would not be considered as acceptable reason for their child’s absence.

Children who miss one day each week from school, is missing out on 20% of their education.

What the Law says about school attendance.
By law all children of compulsory school age (between age 5 and 16) must receive a suitable full-time education. Section 444 (1a) of the Education Act 1996 requires children and young people of compulsory school age to regularly attend the school at which he/she is on roll. It states if ‘the parent knows that his/her child is failing to attend regularly at school without reasonable justification to cause him to do so, he/she is guilty of an offence’

Parents can be fined up to £2,500 or imprisoned for failing to ensure that their child attends school regularly.

To obtain further information please contact Education Welfare Service on (01384) 814317

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